US declares victory in insurgent town

Herald Sun ^ | 28 January 2006

[Aussie Dasher]

A US commander has declared a "fragile victory" in Tal Afar overnight four months after a US-led military operation to break the hold of Al-Qaeda and other insurgents in the northern Iraqi city.

Colonel H.R. McMaster said ethnic strife between Turkomen Shiite and Sunni communities is ending, and residents are now cooperating with authorities to keep insurgents from slipping back.

The army colonel, who commands the 3rd Armoured Cavalry Regiment, said the turnaround marks a major physical and psychological defeat for the insurgents, who lost a vital safe haven near the Syrian border.

"But, certainly, it's a fragile victory," he said from Iraq. "I mean, this is a brutal and determined enemy who wants to get back into the city, who wants to continue to brutalise these people."

Attacks in the city have fallen from a high of 170 a month to about 35 or 40, he said.

Power and water have been restored, and the city is coming back to life, he said.

He said residents have lost their fear of informing on insurgents, restricting their freedom of movement and helping to pre-empt attempts at spectacular attacks.

"What the enemy will try to do, I think, is to try to maintain a degree of intimidation, try to come into certain parts of the city and establish this pall of fear in a local area and begin to consolidate and form another base for action elsewhere in the city," he said.

Meanwhile, a new 1,765-member police force is being introduced to replace one that was shattered by the insurgents in September 2004.

Whereas the old force was composed entirely of Shiites in a city that is 75 percent Sunni, the new force is more broadly representative of the city's ethnic make up, he said.

McMaster said Al-Qaeda incited ethnic divisions in the city but there are now encouraging signs of reconciliation among the warring factions.

Shiite families who fled mixed neighbourhoods during the violence are starting to move back, he said.

[Aussie Dasher]

Another win for the good guys! Keep rollin' on!

[ExcursionGuy84]

Ever & Ever..as more and more towns & cities are denied as havens to the Terrorists...
..it begins to remind me of the WW2 Pacific Theater in which the US Forces took back each island & archipelago with "Island-hopping" measures.

[AmericaUnited]

An incredibly noble task, which will only be appreciated a good bit into the future.

[ExcursionGuy84]

An incredibly noble task, which will only be appreciated a good bit into the future.

Oh, I may have been born in 1984, mate. But I've truly grown up readin AND appreciatig all that our forefathers fought ferociously for in those Jungles, Atolls, Reefs, Moutains, etc.

[Yasotay]

McMaster was one of the Desert Storm Studs of the "Battle of 73 Eastings". I thought I'd never say this .... GO CAV!!!

[GretchenM]

bttt

[saquin]

An excerpt of a letter from the mayor of Tal Afar, Najim Abadullah al Jibouri (a Sunni, by the way) to General Casey:

"Our city was overrun by heartless terrorists, Zarqawi and his followers, who unloaded their bloodthirsty and voracious action of evil on this city for several months by indiscriminately killing men, women and children. Tall Afar was a human slaughterhouse. Simple services were not possible, causing the people to suffer, till the day you dispatched your troops, who were our lion-hearted saviors. Your troops came to rescue Tall Afar led by our heroes, whom Tall Afar will never forget. After the major operation, your wonderful soldiers started nursing the wounds of this city by rebuilding the damaged lives and buildings with great compassion and speed. These soldiers have done more than their original mission required of them. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts."

Transcript of MNF Press Conference in which Gen. Casey reads excerpt from letter

A recent article about the Tal Afar

Then the Americans, the mayor, a new chief of police and an emboldened Iraqi army division began the long, hard work of pacifying a frightened city and restoring some semblance of law and order.

How well have they succeeded?

"Go look in our city," the mayor said. "The children run after the American officers. They know their names. These men are heroes in Tal Afar."

Tal Afar Mayor Najim Abadullah Al-Jibouri (center) has worked so closely with Lt. Col. Christopher Hickey, left and Col. H.R. McMaster (right) that he has written President Bush begging him to extend the 3rd ACR's tour of duty.

[Marine_Uncle]

Town by town. City by city. Hamlet by hamlet. Zman is doomed to total failure and so are the hold out Saddamist, Sunni and Shia religious zeolots.
More Iraqi are seeing the US coalition is there to make their lives better not worse, then will pull out once the new Iraq is no longer a free for all. GWB, Howard, Blair, and the other coalition leaders are united to see the new Iraq emerge.

[freema]

Thank you for posting this piece.

[patriciaruth]

News from Tal Afar.

[Just mythoughts]

Thanks for the ping, great news.

[Coop]

Thanks for the ping!

[Diva Betsy Ross]

Our troops and allies are awesome.

[dirtboy]

I read stuff like this, and then I read quotes from pond scum like Murtha, and I get infuriated. We are within inches of winning this war. Just as we did in WWII and in the Cold War, we have liberated millions from fascism and tyranny.

But to the liberal mind, Bush is the fascist.

I used to think there could be some accomodation with the far left.

No longer.

They are in some ways more toxic than al Qaeda. Al Qaeda has declared its intent to destroy our country, whereas the modern liberal will not, and instead acts like he is the savior instead of the destroyer.

[Supernatural]

It is nice to see some positive results instead of a daily body count from the network news people.

[Diva Betsy Ross]

Well pretty soon the networks are going to have little choice- considering that our troops are hemorrhaging good work from the region. Considering we have digital cameras and every blog can show photos almost real time and the internet is taking over print media.

Ahhh...It all sounds so good and it will be a good day~ when the emperors of media are shown to have no clothes, wont it? Hehe:]

[kattracks]

Thank you for the ping.
God Bless Our Troops.

[Supernatural]

Thousands of lies can be told, but the truth is still the truth.

[irish guard]

This continues to verify the absense of Zarqawi. Heck, our guys (at least the two in the foreground) in this photo aren't even wearing body armor. If that were still a hostile area, they'd be geared up. Then again, we can't see the perimeter. However, these small snippets, ignored by the MSM are "tells" that AQ has moved elsewhere.

The interesting side benefit to this kind of success is that in each of these towns when the filth is rounded up, we end up learning additional intel on whereabouts and tactics.

[Diva Betsy Ross]

Wise words. I will remember them.